Now onto today's post, where I'd like to introduce you to one of the final two coven members, Tasha.

Enjoy.

**

With
only two members of the coven left to ask about their abilities,
Betty turned to one of the two remaining girls. She had black hair
cut in a striking bob, and streaked through with pink.

"What's
your name?"

"Tasha."

"And
what can you do, Tasha?"

"I
can teleport various distances. The furthest I've gotten is about ten
miles."

"Can
you take anyone or anything with you when you teleport?"

"I've
never been brave enough to try and teleport another person with me.
I'm scared it'll go wrong. I can take small objects with me, if I
have physical contact with it, or if the object's in my pocket."

"That
will suffice for now. Soon we'll begin developing all your abilities,
and we'll see if we can increase what you can do with your
teleportation. So, how did you come to the warehouse? I think it's a
safe bet that whatever force is drawing everyone else here drew you
here too. But what did you do before that? How did you discover you
were a witch?"

"It
happened about a year ago. It was just Mum and me on our own, Dad
left when I saw a baby. We were struggling for money, and Mum
couldn't work because she had depression. I offered to get a job, but
there wasn't much out there because of my age. Eventually one of
those massage places took me on … you know, those places they have
hidden away and are kind of dodgy?

"They
never made me do anything I didn't wanna though. It was just
massaging people, mostly fat old guys. It was kinda creepy, but it
paid the bills."

Tasha
played nervously with a strand of pink hair, avoiding making eye
contact with the rest of the coven.

"I
just got on with it. I separated work from the rest of life. All that
mattered was we could pay the rent and afford groceries. It helped
Mum, too. Without the pressure of having to get a job she started to
get better.

"Everything
was fine until Douglas Parsons came."

"Douglas
Parsons, the disgraced M.P?" Maggie asked.

Tasha
nodded. "The very same. He was a complete letch. He came into
the parlour looking for a massage and 'something more'. As soon as he
saw me I couldn't shake him. He became my best paying client, having
a massage from me at least once a day, sometimes more. He was a great
tipper, so I kinda overlooked what a creeper he was.

"After
about a month of him coming in, things turned nasty. We're not meant
to be alone with clients, in case things get out of hand, but that
week we were short staffed. Courtney, the girl who usually assisted
me, was having some issues with her boyfriend and stop coming to work
without giving anyone any notice. When Parsons came in, the owner
Pam, said I shouldn't massage him alone. I couldn't turn down the
money though, the cable bill was due that week. I told Pam I'd risk
it, and she said she'd stick her head in the room whenever she could.

"The
look on Parsons' face when I told him it would just be him and me,
you'd have thought Christmas had come early. I reminded him of the
rules of the parlour, and that he wasn't to touch me. He nodded,
stripped off and climbed onto the table.

"About
half way through the massage I felt his hand on my arse. I didn't
make a big deal of it. I just moved away out of his reach. He didn't
take the hint though. Five minutes later, he sat up and tried to
grope me. I pushed him off and said that's not how I worked.

"I
can still remember the look on his face when he said, 'Sure it is.
All you girls are the same. Don't worry though, I'll pay you a little
extra.' I backed away telling him I wasn't like that, and that he
should leave now. He didn't listen. He pressed me against the wall …"
Tasha broke off and shuddered.

"Fucking
perv," Nola said. "I hope you kicked him in the nuts!"

"I
wanted to, but I was too scared. I was scared of what he'd do to me
if I didn't sleep with him, and I was scared of losing my job if I
fought him off. I felt his hand slide up my body, and grab my boob,
so I screwed my eyes shut, and then suddenly I was in my bedroom. I
had no idea what had happened. One minute I was in the parlour, the
next I wasn't. I was still trying to figure everything out when Pam
phoned. She sounded half hysterical. Apparently Parsons wasn't happy
with me turning him down and vanishing. He'd reported me to the PID.
Pam said she'd tried to put him off as long as possible, but he'd
forced her to give me her address, threatening to have the parlour
closed down if she didn't.

"In
a panic I grabbed the money I'd hidden away. I always put a little
bit aside and hid it in a shoebox under my bed. I split the money in
two, giving Mum most of it. I quickly packed some things in bags, and
dragged her out of the house. We went to the train station and I
said I needed to go away for a while, but I was sending her to my
aunt Val's. Mum thought it was a holiday, and when I told her I'd be
back as soon as I could, she went along with my plan without
question.

"I
bungled her onto a train to Aunt Val, and then got on a train going
in the opposite direction. I figured she'd be safe enough with her
sister, and I could put some distance between me, Parsons and the
PID. I planned on going to Aunt Val's after about a month. I figured
by then everything would have calmed down.

"For
a month I lived on the streets, using the money I'd brought with me
to make sure I had at least one meal a day. When I thought enough
time had passed I caught a train to my aunt Val's. Val was furious
when I arrived. She said the PID had contacted her, and harassed both
her and Mum about my whereabouts. The stress of me disappearing, and
the PID hunting me had caused Mum to have a breakdown, and she was
currently in psychiatric care. Val told me to get the hell out of
there, and never show my face again. She said I'd caused my mum
nothing but trouble, and that I was a waste of space."

"What
a bitch! None of that shit was your fault. Family sucks."

Betty
cleared her throat meaningfully.

Nola
rolled her eyes. "Present company excluded of course."

"I
was devastated, so I ran from the house, with no idea where I was
going to go or what I was going to do. I'd spent the last of my money
on train tickets to my aunt's.

"I
wondered about my 'ability'. I hadn't used it since that one time at
the massage parlour, but now that I was desperate I thought about it
again and wondered if I could somehow get myself back to the
underpass that had been my home for the past month.

"Screwing
my eyes closed, I concentrated on the underpass, and thought of
having somewhere safe to return to. When I opened my eyes, I wasn't
at the underpass. I wasn't at the end of my aunt's street, either. I
was in this industrial unit. Violet was outside when I appeared, and
once she'd gotten over the shock of seeing me materialise out of
nothing, she invited me in."

"That's
very interesting indeed. You weren't just drawn here by some sense of
security, it seems as though your ability brought you here."